At last gravity made a grab for Dan Brown at this Open Championship. The double bogey at the 54th hole means he will have two shots to claw back on Sunday if he is to pull off his mission improbable.
The Yorkshire’s pig farmer’s son, with a taste for country music and a crafty fag, will fly the flag for the golfing everyman into the final round but after keeping his head above water for so long at a sodden Troon, the six as a send-off was frustrating.
Still, the bald facts are that a qualifier on his Open debut, rated a 400-1 shot before the first ball was struck, lies second with 18 holes to play and will accompany the World No 1 Scottie Scheffler in the final round. In his wildest dreams Brown cannot have envisaged that.
“After the last two holes it’s a bit of kick in the teeth but if you’d told me I would be going into the final round one or two shots back I would have ripped your hand off,” he said.
“It’s a bit nasty to finish like that but the way I have handled myself I think I can have a right go tomorrow.
“I suppose a lot of people expected I would be shaky today and very nervous but I have felt fine. I didn’t know if I would wake up and be nervous and sweaty and whatever but felt OK and think will be tomorrow.
“I’m quite a calm, relaxed person anyway.”
There will be pressure tomorrow but for a player who knows real pressure – not the top of the giant yellow leaderboard type – it should come as a privilege. In 2018 he was unable to complete his Challenge Tour season after running out of money. In 2019 he was all set to give up the game completely after becoming disillusioned with living a hand-to-mouth existence on the minor tours. It had got to the point where he had started to apply for supermarket jobs.
